Category — Experiments

I recently bought the talented Keri Smith’s book “Wreck this Journal“. It is what it sounds like. Pages of creative ways to destroy the book.

My Brand New Journal

I knew it was going to be fun, at least judging from the flickr pool of fellow wreckers, but I was totally unprepared for how freeing it would feel to do some of the exercises.

Me taking my journal for a walk

You just don’t realize how tied we all are to perfection until you try to resist the urge to be perfect, keep things perfect, or act perfectly. It is harder then you think to take a brand new book and drag it through a puddle of water. In a way, going through some of the exercises is like giving yourself permission to loosen up a little, make mistakes, be creative and take risks and also let go of the idea of possessing things.

My Journal - after a fall from high in the sky

Is anyone else wrecking a journal? Would love to hear your thoughts on the process!

I have decided to change is the way I deal with experiments. I will now be doing them every week.

The purpose of these experiments is to try new things and open myself up to life.  By having a specific time-frame to complete these and by experimenting every week, I am hoping that the experience becomes more meaningful AND that I (or you) won’t cheat and wait until the last day of the year to finish an experiment.

I also hope that along the way some of you join me in my experiments.  I will announce a new one every Sunday and give an update every Friday.

This weeks experiment is (DRUMROLL): Give something away

A lot of our time is spent trying to acquire things — better jobs, new furniture, nicer houses, pretty clothes.  It is easy to become addicted to the feeling of purchasing, and receiving.  What I want to do, and what I invite you to do, this week is to give something away.  I will blog about my experience on Friday and I invite you to comment if you do the same.

A little inspiration for this experience:

Freecycle is a grassroots nonprofit movement that allows you to give and get for free.  This site is very simple to use and has the potential to really benefit your community.  Have a piano you don’t want?  Just send an email to your local Freecycle group and tell them it’s up for grabs.  And guess what it’s just as easy to get as it is to giveaway.  There main rule is “Everything posted must be free, legal, and appropriate for all ages”.

Book Swap

This photo was taken in the City of Sarlat in the Dordogne region of France.  These boxes were in a few places in the city.  You can donate and take books from the boxes.  I fell in love with this idea (and in love with a city that would do this).  It brought back memories of my New York apartment – neighbors would leave books on the windowsills for other people to take.  Our own personal lending libraries.

S0 – in the spirit of giving, what will you give away this week?  Make sure to come back on Friday and let us know how it goes.  I’ll be updating about my results too!  Happy giving.

Experiment type: Creative

Experiment timeframe: Complete anytime within the year of possibility

Experiment Description: I will be using the book poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge as a framework.  I will complete all the exercises in her book and see if I can’t get a little creative spark going.

Experiment Name: I will refer to this experiment as POEMCRAZY

Notes: I used to write poetry and have not in years.  I am interested in freeing up some time to write again, as well as the ability to connect to my emotions or just write freely without concern for anyone’s judgements.